Tap vs. Bottle vs. Can

[usndocjaysin]

WTF!!!? I pick up a 12 pack of beer for like 6$ It was in cans though... I usually buy bottles but couldn't pass up the deal. So as I sat posting here on teh Barf I got to thinking "Why in the hell does tap beer taste better than bottles and bottles better than cans???"
I know someone here agrees with me and knows the answer
What says you?

 

[V4]

depends on the beer..?

some beers taste better in a bottle like Heineken whereas Budweiser/miller taste the same either way but coors always taste like crap whichever way it comes...

 

[Cdgskater]

One beer which for me tastes better outta the can is Guiness...but the tap of course trumps both...

 

[greggargubby]

i'll take tap over anything, any day of the week. tap usually mean you're at some bar or party or whatever and having more fun.

 

[Loki388]

The difference between bottle/can/tap is the aging/carbonation process once it has finished fermenting. Beers are carbonated different ways once the final fermentation is finished. Basically, you add live sugar, and the remaining yeast eats it to convert it to alchohol. But since this is in a small, sealed container, there is no room for the chemical reaction. Thus, when you add air, it releases the pressure, and creates bubbles. The chemical reaction does not interact with glass, therefore it imparts no metallic taste. The same is not true of cans. The reason kegs are smoother is that carbonation is added at the time of drawing.

 

[Arminius]

One beer which for me tastes better outta the can is Guiness...but the tap of course trumps both...

I've always said the same thing.

 

[tuxumino]

I tappa keg

 

[Eldritch]

I prefer bottle beer. I usually drink Heineken or some sort of similar Pilsner. Feels right in a bottle. Stouts & Porter seems to be better from the tap.

 

[aminalmutha]

Cask pwnz all by a huge margin. Then regular draught. There are actually some high quality beers that come in cans, but generally, better off the shelf beers are in bottles, tho you can't let it get skunky. Light can make beers skunky.

 

[fromeast2west]

The difference between bottle/can/tap is the aging/carbonation process once it has finished fermenting.

While it's true that there is more than one way to carbonate beer, almost all commercially available beer is artificially carbonated before it leaves the brewery.

Home brewers often prime a beer with sugar to carbonate it because they don't have access to the CO2 injection rigs that commercial breweries use. It's a 'live' process though, and is much less predictable than CO2 injection.

The biggest factors in how a beer tastes are it's age, the temps it's been exposed to, and if it's CO2 or N2 for bubbles. (for kegs the quality of the lines can be a factor too, so nasty places don't flush or replace lines often enough between kegs).

Between cans and bottles (with most modern containers), the biggest factor is the contact w/ the metal when you actually drink the beer. Even w/ alum. I find a distinct metal taste/feel. Try pouring a bottle and can of the same beer (with the same 'born on' date, or whatever), into two clean glasses, and you'll have a much harder time telling which glass of beer came from which container. You'll need a good number of samples to cut down on the random variables, so by the time you finish the experiment you may have an even harder time standing and walking around, but it's all in the name of science...

 

[cletus]

all tap all the time unless its not available

 

[Psilocybes]

Tap normally means i'm at a bar, I like being at bars, i'm happier, and the beer taste awesome.
Bottle is cheaper but i'm normally at a friends house, happy but not bar happy, beer is good.
Cans? Beer comes in cans?

 

[cease3184]

All about the tap! I love Pilsner from a tap, or a nice Stella.

 

[Hooli]

WTF!!!? I pick up a 12 pack of beer for like 6$

You shouldn't drink so much. Damn alky...

 

[R3DS!X]

tap water

 

[F4iChic]

tap water

i thought this was about water too

hence I voted Tap

 

[pSykopSoMaTiK]

You forgot the choice of plastic cups, Solo brand to be precise.

 

[usndocjaysin]

You forgot the choice of plastic cups, Solo brand to be precise.

You can buy beer ALREADY IN plastic cups???

 

[pSykopSoMaTiK]

^^
At bars when there are festivals or some big event and they either don't want to deal with washing glasses or people breaking the glasses for fighting or whatever...

 

[usndocjaysin]

^^
At bars when there are festivals or some big event and they either don't want to deal with washing glasses or people breaking the glasses for fighting or whatever...

But which type of container did they come from...?